Wednesday, June 29, 2011

baked mini doughnuts

So this week we celebrated TWO birthdays at work, yes, two. Hmmm what to make, what to make...? I've heard lots of talk about doughnuts, especially over at my friend's blog: Stephanie Cooks. I just happened to have this mini doughnut pan amongst my many unique items in my cupboard so I thought... Make Rachel & Nancy baked Mini Donuts!!! I have the belief that great things really do come in small packages :) And I think baked mini doughnuts just about proves it. Yes, yes, it does. Especially when the small items amount to 4 dozen dipped in either white or milk chocolate, topped with sprinkles & non-pareils.

I went ahead & used the recipe, tweaked a tiny bit, that had been listed on the pan, just to get the general feel for amounts, taste, etc. I didn't want to tweak too much since it could be a hit or miss thing. Next time I know what I am going to do differently for a different doughnut so stayed tuned as usual!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees & lightly spray the pan. In the mixer on low, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Add the shortening, eggs, milk & vanilla. Mix until well blended. Fill each doughnut compartment in the pan halfway with the batter. *Lishie tip- for this step, I filled a plastic sandwich bag with the batter & snipped a corner off with shears. Then I squeezed the batter into each hole. Bake about 10 minutes until the doughnuts are springy to the touch. Pop out with the assistance of a toothpick & allow to cool.

Repeat the entire process but in between, rinse off the pan with cool water (allowing it to come back to room temperature) & towel dry.

I yielded 48 doughnuts!

Naked mini donuts!

For topping... Melt chocolate on a double boiler... I melted milk chocolate in one bowl & white chocolate in another. Dip each donut into the melted chocolate them place on a wire cooling wrack... sprinkle with toppings, whatever you like! I used chocolate sprinkles & blue non-pareils but this is where you can be so creative!!! think... rainbow sprinkles, colored sugar, raw sugar, crushed nuts of all kinds, mini m & m's, crushed candy, etc...

The verdict? Everyone that had them said they were really good & they so didn't miss the greasiness of deep fried doughnuts! I think I did good. You should make them- you'll do good too! :)